A private branch exchange (PBX) is a private telephone exchange or switching system that may be implemented within an enterprise. The PBX enables internal phone calls to be routed within the PBX while routing external phone calls to a reduced set of external lines, thereby reducing telephony costs for the enterprise. PBX systems also enable customization of the internal phone network to best suit the needs of the enterprise such as by modifying the PBX with one or more modules that provide additional telephony functionality such as voicemail, conference calling, call waiting, and the like.
Many PBX systems communicate using internet protocol (IP) and session initiation protocol (SIP). As a result, such PBX systems typically require gateways or similar equipment to facilitate communication between the internal IP-based network of the enterprise and legacy telephone networks, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Through a process referred to as “trunking”, traffic to and from lines of the PBX are consolidated onto a virtual connection, which may be over the Internet or a virtual private network (VPN), and communicated between a trunking service provider and the PBX system. Accordingly, externally directed traffic originating from endpoint client devices of a PBX system is consolidated onto the virtual connection and transmitted to the trunking service provider, which then performs the necessary conversion of the IP-based traffic to signals compatible with the PSTN. Similarly, the trunking service provider converts signals from the PSTN into IP-based traffic and consolidates the IP-based traffic onto the virtual connection for transmission to the PBX system. The PBX system then routes the traffic as necessary to one or more endpoint client devices.
It is with these observations in mind, among others, that aspects of the present disclosure were conceived.